


The Space Between

by LiraelClayr007



Series: NaPoWriMo 2020 [7]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Poetry, clint is clever, clint's trick arrows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23539366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiraelClayr007/pseuds/LiraelClayr007
Summary: Clint is pretty sure he sees himself on Bucky's phone, and makes it his mission to see it again. Bucky's embarrassed and denying the incident, and makes it his mission to keep his phone to himself.Who will win?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Series: NaPoWriMo 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686106
Comments: 16
Kudos: 63





	The Space Between

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pherryt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/gifts).



> oh my stars this was fun to write. also it...got away from me. it's a bit longer than my usual poem!!

i.

Clint’s only just started his second  
cup of coffee when he catches a glimpse  
of Bucky’s phone, so he thinks  
it might just be his imagination. Still,  
he has to ask.

_Bucky, am I your lockscreen?_

Face pink, hiding behind his hair,  
Bucky shoves his phone  
into his pocket. He mumbles,  
_You weren’t supposed to see that._

Clint nearly drops his mug.  
(Only nearly. It takes a lot  
to make him spill  
coffee.)

_Wait, **what**?_

Bucky clears his throat,  
sits up tall. _I have no idea_  
_what you’re talking about._  
Not a syllable is convincing,  
but Clint just shrugs, grins.

_My mistake. My eyes,_  
_you know. They’re not_  
_the greatest._

Everyone hears.  
Steve groans.  
Natasha rolls her eyes.  
Tony chuckles.

ii.

For better than a week Clint tries  
to see Bucky’s phone again. But Bucky  
is quick, and nearly as sneaky as he is.  
Clint drops down from vents, lays in ambush–  
Sam called it “sleeping”, but Clint knew better–  
perches behind Bucky on pretty much anything  
with a higher vantage point. (Including, at one point,  
Steve’s shoulders; Steve agreed it was for a good cause.)  
He tries to send Nat on recon missions but she  
refuses. _I’m your friend, and I’d do anything for you,_  
_but I won’t get caught up in the middle of–_  
she flaps her hand– _this._ Clint even tries to flash his  
puppy dog eyes, but she just laughs.

iii.

They’re on the range when Clint  
seizes his chance.  
Bucky’s phone  
is sticking out of his back pocket,  
a good inch of it showing,  
just enough  
for what Clint has in mind.  
Bucky thinks he’s safe  
on the range, and he’s  
mostly  
right.

But he’s forgotten about  
Clint’s trick arrows.

Tony couldn’t understand  
what he’d ever use  
an arrow like this for.  
Clint had just smiled.

It’s a lot like a toy  
he’d played with as a kid,  
before he’d learned to shoot  
a real bow...with his own  
modifications, of course.  
The suction cup tip  
is much stronger than any toy;  
it’s got an air-tight seal  
that will lock on to whatever it grabs  
and won’t let go  
until Clint releases it.  
It also works like his grappling arrows,  
but in reverse;  
instead of pulling him to the arrow,  
the arrow–  
and its prize–  
is pulled back to him.

Tony’s right.  
This is no combat arrow.  
But it’s excellent  
for snatching things  
from his friends.

iv.

He waits until Bucky’s done  
to snag the phone with his trick  
arrow. He’s not an idiot; he doesn’t

want to get shot. He almost gets caught,  
he’d forgotten Bucky’s supersoldier  
reflexes, but at the last second he tugs

the phone just through Bucky’s  
fingers.

Watching the phone zip  
through the air and bounce  
across the floor he’s suddenly glad

Stark makes indestructible phone  
cases. He winces at a particularly loud  
smash, timed with the crash

of Bucky’s boot very close behind.

But Bucky’s too late, the phone  
is in Clint’s hand. And he’s tall enough  
to keep the phone out of Bucky’s

reach.

v.

It’s a crop of a cheesy PR shot;  
Nat’s hair falls over the right side  
of the frame, and Steve’s shield  
the left. Clint’s  
in his uniform,  
bow in hand,  
staring off into the distance  
with his “superhero face.”

It’s fairly ridiculous.

But there it is,  
on Bucky’s phone.  
His somehow not scraped  
or bruised,  
perfectly airbrushed  
face.

His real face can’t stop  
smiling.

Without a word  
he hands Bucky  
his own phone.  
Bucky looks,  
looks at Clint,  
looks at the phone  
again.

Clint’s lockscreen  
is a candid shot  
of someone  
on the roof of the tower,  
in silhouette,  
looking out over the city.

It’s Bucky.

 _Why’d you think I wanted to know_  
_so bad?_ Clint steps closer,  
suddenly nervous,  
his eyes asking a question  
his mouth can’t quite  
form.

 _Yes,_  
Bucky says.  
_Okay._

Clint’s nervousness

d i s a p p e a r s

...and so does the  
space  
between  
them.

**Author's Note:**

> NaPoWriMo Day 7
> 
> prompts: winterhawk and "am i your lockscreen?" "you weren't supposed to see that"


End file.
